Meet the Rabbi Who Teaches Her Students About the Torah Using Nail Art

Nail art has officially become a religion. Well, sort of. A 25-year-old rabbi in suburban New York, Yael Buechler, is using a really sneaky and clever way to teach her students about the Torah--she's doing it via nail art. (Back when I was in Catholic grammar school, we learned teachings like the catechism by rote memorization and fear-mongering. Perhaps if someone showed me the ten commandments or the stations of the cross via a manicure, I might not be the fallen Catholic I am today.)
Rabbi Buechler, who was profiled in the New York Times recently, has been using nail art to help girls personalize and understand the teachings of the Torah.

Nail art has officially become a religion. Well, sort of. A 25-year-old rabbi in suburban New York, Yael Buechler, is using a really sneaky and clever way to teach her students about the Torah--she's doing it via nail art. (Back when I was in Catholic grammar school, we learned teachings like the catechism by rote memorization and fear-mongering. Perhaps if someone showed me the ten commandments or the stations of the cross via a manicure, I might not be the fallen Catholic I am today.)
Rabbi Buechler, who was profiled in the New York Times recently, has been using nail art to help girls personalize and understand the teachings of the Torah.

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Nail art has officially become a religion. Well, sort of. A 25-year-old rabbi in suburban New York, Yael Buechler, is using a really sneaky and clever way to teach her students about the Torah--she's doing it via nail art. (Back when I was in Catholic grammar school, we learned teachings like the catechism by rote memorization and fear-mongering. Perhaps if someone showed me the ten commandments or the stations of the cross via a manicure, I might not be the fallen Catholic I am today.)

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Rabbi Buechler, who was profiled in the New York Times recently, has been using nail art to help girls personalize and understand the teachings of the Torah. Her weekly club, called Midrash Manicures ("midrash" is a way of interpretingf Jewish text) has been very popular amongst the junior high set at the Jewish school where she teaches.

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She's been using nail art since her college days to enhance her own learning, and even sported a custom manicure for her rabbinic ordination last May. While manicures seem like a very, um, unorthodox way to teach religion, Buechler told the NYT, "If I said come to a Midrash course, I’d have five or six students. But Midrash Manicures? Twenty plus.” It's pretty brilliant. The school supports her, too. The assistant principal said, "You can’t possibly come up with a meaningful design for your nails until you have read and analyzed the text.”

Rabbi Buechler has become so good at nail art that she is now ambidextrous (we'd also love to see her collection of nail art supplies.) The bottom line is that she's using a teaching method that makes girls learn without even realizing they're learning something.

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Last November we were introduced to the now 26-year-old Rabbi Yael Buechler, who made headlines for her (yeah, we'll make this joke again) unorthodox way of teaching the Torah to her students. In a program called "Midrash Manicures," she has her students come up with nail art to illustrate their understanding of certain stories and teachings. It's been a runaway success at the Jewish day school where she teaches in suburban New York, and she's since expanded: She is now selling Hanukkah-themed nail art decals for those of us who may find drawing a menorah on our pinkie a bit challenging.

I've been a nail freak since childhood, so the nail-polish-is-the-new-lipstick trend sits well with me. Unfortunately, I lack the funds to try out the cool new stuff available (Chanel Peridot, gel manicures). However, I'm a sucker for anything borderline ridiculous or cheap (or both), so when I saw a brightly colored sign advertising $10 nail art in my less-than-cool Bronx neighborhood, I was intrigued.
“$9.99 FULL NAIL MANICURE! FOUR COLOR DESIGN!” read the wooden stand, pointing up a narrow staircase to the second floor of a building housing a tattoo parlor and an electronics store. Never one to be afraid of a little sketchiness (I’d actually gotten my nose pierced at the aforementioned tattoo parlor as an idiotic, parent-free freshman during my 1st week of college), I commissioned my roommate as a wing woman and headed in.